The Food Up-cycling Project

I grew up in quite a large family and was used to seeing my parents buy in bulk. As this is generally the most economical way to shop I never really considered doing anything else when I left home and was responsible for my own groceries.

However, when there's just two of you, bulk buying just tends to end up with a lot of waste as bag after bag of 'buy one get one free' salad goes in the bin followed by half a block of mouldy cheddar and a punnet of mushy strawberries.

Throwing out food is not only expensive, I also feel that it is immoral. Who's mum hasn't said to them "Finish your food - there are children starving in Africa"? whilst whether you finish your lasagne or not will make absolutely no difference to whether people go hungry on the other side of the world, we need to remember just how lucky we are in the affluent West and endeavour to waste as little food as possible.

The Tour De Yorkshire

It's pretty much a once in a lifetime event when international cycle race, the Tour De France (clue's in the name), whizzes through your little town in West Yorkshire so when it does it's appropriate to mark the occasion properly.

Our friends who were coming to celebrate with us are rather sporty (Iron Man, anyone?) so as road closures were in place they decided to cycle the tough 21 miles over to us the day before.

The French Market Cookbook

About 2 weeks ago my husband announced that he was going vegan. This is the man who once declared that he didn't get to the top of the food chain to eat vegetables.

However, following a serious health scare last year he's been much more health concious and I want to be supportive of any positive lifestyle changes.

The next day I spent a good few hours researching vegan recipes, devising a meal plan and putting in an on-line food order. Meanwhile I managed to whip up a vegan swede & coconut dahl from the contents of my freezer and cupboards for that night's dinner.

I presented the dahl to my husband when he arrived home from work (how very 50s housewife!) which he greatly enjoyed and was chuffed when I told him that I had a week's worth of healthy vegan meals lined up for us. I then asked him what he'd had for his lunch. His answer? Chicken Kiev.

Chicken bloody Kiev.